​ ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform -  SNETP

SNETP was launched in September 2007 and reorganised in 2019. It is since then  operating as an international non-profit association (INPA) under the Belgian law pursuing a networking and scientific goals. It is recognised as a European Technology and Innovation Platform (ETIP)​ by the European Commission and includes three pilars, namely :

• ESNI adressing the issues linked with Generation IV Fast Neutron Reactor technologies
• NC2I, European Nuclear Cogeneration Industrial Initiative
• and NUGENIA, Nuclear Generation II & III Alliance (see below). 

SNETP Governing Board includes one representative of IRSN as well as SNETP secretariat.

Its members are  major European nuclear decision-makers : industrial actors, research and development organisations, academia, technical and safety organisations, SMEs as well as non-governmental bodies.

More information:

Visit the SNETP website : http://www.snetp.eu

Nugenia - NUclear GENeration II & III Association

​The latter association NUGENIA dedicated to the research and development of nuclear fission technologies, with a focus on Generation II and III nuclear plants, is since 2019 one pilar of the association SNETP mentionned above. It gathers stakeholders from industry, research, safety organisations and academia, committed to develop joint R&D projects in the nuclear field.

NUGENIA builds on the past success of a European Commission-supported network called NULIFE.

It also includes the SARNET network, a European network of excellence on core meltdown accidents.

The work of NUGENIA is organised in seven technical areas :

• Plant safety and risk assessment
• Severe accidents
• Improved nuclear power plant operation
• Integrity assessments of systems, structures​ and components
• waste management and decommissioning
• Innovative LWR design and technology
• European network for inspection and qualification (ENIQ).

More information:

Visit the NUGENIA website: https://snetp.eu/nugenia/

The European network of excellence SARNET on severe accidents

It was first launched for a four-year term on April 2nd 2004, and is now inow part of NUGENIA, Technical Area 2 (Severe accidents).

More information:​

Scientific Collaboration SARNET

Contact : Ahmed Bentaïb​

Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations - CSNI

The Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) is an international committee made up of senior scientists and engineers with broad responsibilities for safety technology and research programmes, and representatives from regulatory authorities. It was set up in 1973 to develop and co-ordinate the activities of the NEA concerning the technical aspects of the design, construction and operation of nuclear installations insofar as they affect the safety of such installations.

The Committee’s purpose is to foster international co-operation in nuclear safety amongst OECD member countries. The CSNI’s main tasks are to exchange technical information and to promote collaboration between research,  development, engineering and regulatory organisations; to review operating experience and the state of knowledge on selected topics of nuclear safety technology and safety assessment; to initiate and conduct research programmes to overcome discrepancies, develop improvements and work to find consensus on technical issues; and to promote the co-ordination of work that serves to maintain and enhance competence in nuclear safety matters, including the establishment of joint undertakings.

The Committee focuses primarily on existing power reactors and other nuclear installations; it also considers the safety implications of scientific and technical developments of new reactor designs. Further, the scope for this Committee includes human and organisational research activities and technical developments that affect nuclear safety.

More information:

Visit the CSNI website : http://www.oecd-nea.org/nsd/csni/

IRSN is a founding member or a partner, through its contributing experts and its financial support, in the following organisations and networks : 

Consortium of European Radiation Research Platforms – MEENAS

The MEENAS (MELODI, EURADOS, EURAMED, NERIS, ALLIANCE, SHARE) consortium of European Radiation Research Platforms aims to :​

• ​Promote the integration and the efficiency of European R&D in radiation protection to better protect humans (public, patients and workers) and environment;
• Advance scientific excellence;
• Develop and implement the joint R&D roadmap;
• Maintain and develop European research capacity;
• Encourage scientific education and training and foster key research infrastructures in the field of radiation protection;
• Foster international collaboration and collaboration with sister organisations and networks in a non-exclusive manner by open interaction with the wider research community and stakeholders.

More information :

Visit the MEENAS website :  ​http://www.eu-meenas.net

Multidisci​plinary European Low Dose Initiative - MELODI

 The MELODI Association, founded in 2010 as an incorporated Association under the relevant French law, aims to bring together the main organizations responsible in Europe for radiation protection research, particularly for programming and implementing low-dose risk related research activities. The purpose of MELODI is to coordinate, promote and implement European research on the risks associated with low dose exposure to ionizing radiation. In 2021, MELODI comprises 43 member organizations, coming from 15 EU Member States (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden) and 4 non-EU countries (Canada, Norway, Switzerland, United Kingdom).

MELODI acts as a platform to promote research in the field of low dose exposures to reduce uncertainties in the knowledge base for radiation protection, in accordance with relevant European Union policies. In this context, it contributes to the definition of priority objectives in low-dose risk research, the identification of research Programmes and resources to be implemented in order to achieve these objectives, the assessment of results obtained, and the promotion of communication on these issues between the various parties involved. The MELODI Association organizes scientific and stakeholder workshops, promotes the visibility of the low-dose risk research area, and nominates ad hoc working groups on specific topics.

A major activity of MELODI is the establishment and updating of a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) in low-dose risk research. The overall aim of the MELODI SRA is to focus research to provide the information needed for the consolidation of the scientific evidence in the area of low-dose radiation exposure to contribute to the definition of the EU radiation protection policies. This requires a forward thinking agenda to help frame the structure of a well-coordinated research Programme, and to establish the operational procedures for the development of MELODI to ensure a long-term commitment (>20 y) to low-dose risk research in Europe. The SRA is updated on a regular basis, via an open dialogue with the scientific community and various stakeholders. MELODI has three working groups focusing on the three topics SRA updating, access to research infrastructure and on education and training, respectively. A scientific board to advice MELODI on research matters has been installed. The MELODI Association is open to all organizations in Europe entrusted with missions in the field of low-dose radiation risk research, which are willing and capable to contribute to the goals of MELODI.

A General Assembly is held once a year, together with an open MELODI workshop. Seven international MELODI workshops were organized: in 2009 (Stuttgart, Germany), 2010 (Paris, France), 2011 (Rome, Italy), 2012 (Helsinki, Finland), 2013 (Brussels, Belgium), 2014 (Barcelona, Spain), and 2015 (Munich, Germany). Since 2016, the MELODI workshop is part of the Radiation Protection Weeks held in 2016 (Oxford, United Kingdom), 2017 (Marne-la-Vallée, France), 2018 (Rovinj, Croatia), and 2019 (Stockholm, Sweden). The MELODI association organized also four scientific workshops on radiosensitivity (2018), non-cancer radiation-induced effects (2019), internal emitters (2020), and adverse outcomes pathways (2021). 

More information:

MELODI presentation (pdf file)

Visit the MELODI website : http://www.melodi-online.eu/

European Radiation Dosimetry Group – EURADOS Network

​The European Radiation Dosimetry Group is a network of 60 institutions and 500 scientists​ from the European Union, Switzerland, Eastern and Central Europe Union. It serves the promotion of research and development and European cooperation in the field of the dosimetry of ionizing radiation: radiation protection, radiobiology, diagnostic and therapeutic radiology. It undertakes network activities stimulating collaboration between ​European laboratories.

Its activities encompass :

• Coordination of working groups which promote technical development and implementation in routine, and which contribute to compatibility within Europe and conformance with international practices;
• Organisation of scientific meetings and training activities;
• Organisation of intercomparisons and benchmark studies.

The general aim of EURADOS is to maintain and consolidate a permanent network of experts, reference laboratories and research laboratories across Europe, in the fields of radiation protection, radiobiology, diagnostic and therapeutic radiology. EURADOS carries out projects identified within the group itself or at the request of external bodies, aimed at :

• Advancing the scientific understanding of ionising radiation dosimetry;
• Promoting the technical development of dosimetric methods and instruments, and their implementation in routine dosimetry;
• Assisting partners and stakeholders in achieving compatibility between dosimetric procedures used within Europe and, in general, conformity with international practice

More information:

Visit the EURADOS website : http://www.eurados.org

European Alliance for Medical Radiation Protection Research – EURAMED

The​ European Alliance for Medical Radiation Protection Research (EURAMED) was established by five medical associations involved in the application of ionising radiation in medicine, namely the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM), the European Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics (EFOMP), the European Federation of Radiographer Societies (EFRS), the European Society of Radiology (ESR) and the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) with the goal of jointly improving medical care and its medical radiation protection issues through sustainable research efforts. Since October 1st, 2017 EURAMED is a non-profit organisation registered in Austria.

EURAMED complements existing established European platforms in several other fields of radiation protection and will thus create visibility for the medical field in this context. EURAMED’s overall vision is to lead the European research activities in medical radiation protection and to assume an umbrella function for the harmonisation of practice to advance the European radiation protection safety culture in medicine.

More information:

Visit the EURAMED website : http://www.euramed.eu/

Network of European organisations involved in emergency and recovery preparedness and management – NERIS

Created in June 2010 as a network of European organisations involved in emergency and recovery preparedne​ss and management the NERIS Platform is currently composed of 56 organisations from 24 different countries from which 28 supporting organisations. The objectives of the Platform are to contribute to improving the effectiveness of current approaches for preparedness, promoting more coherent approaches, identifying gaps and needs for further developments, addressing new and emerging challenges and maintaining and improving know-how and technical expertise in this field.

The Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) has been structured in three main research areas covering new challenges in atmospheric & aquatic modelling, new challenges for better dose assessments and decision support based on improved knowledge and new challenges in stakeholder involvement and local preparedness and communication strategies. Several projects have been developed to contribute to the development of the research in this field, notably in the EC Research Framework Programme with the projects NERIS TP (2011-2014) and PREPARE (2013-2016).

The vision of the NERIS platform is that “by 2020, all European organizations being members of the association are sharing common views and common approaches and are developing and using compatible technology and methods for consequence management of the emergencies”. In respect to this vision, cooperation with international organisations with a mandate to harmonise response in Europe and worldwide has been established to favour them to become aware of NERIS scientific capabilities and research developments.

More information:

Visit the NERIS website : http://www.eu-neris.net/

European Radioecology Alliance – ALLIANCE

The Director Generals of eight organisations signed a Memorandum of Understanding in June 2009 and established the European Radioecology Alliance. Members of the Alliance bring together parts of their respective research and development programmes into an integrated programme that maintains and enhances radioecological competences and experimental infrastructures, and addresses scientific and educational challenges in assessing the impact of radioactive substances on humans and the environment.

Together the members jointly state their intention to bring together, in a step-by-step approach and with an aspiration of sustainability, part of their respective R&D programmes into an integrated transnational programme that :

• Maintains and enhances radioecological competences and experimental infrastructures in Europe, with an international perspective, and;
• Addresses scientific and educational challenges related to the assessment of the impact of radioactive substances on humans and the environment.​

More information:

Visit the ALLIANCE website : http://www.er-alliance.eu/

European platform for Social Sciences and humanities research relating to ionizing radiation – SHARE

The mission of SHARE is to stimulate the integration of social sciences and humanities (SSH) in research, practice and policy related to ionizing radiation, including, for example: radiation protection, low dose risk, radioecology, emergency preparedness and response, dosimetry, medical applications, radioactive waste management, nuclear energy production, safety, NORM, site remediation, radon etc.

To this end, SHARE structures and enhances dialogue at the European level and beyond, among the different stakeholders, fostering the sharing of knowledge and information among various disciplines working on aspects of ionizing radiation. SHARE was officially launched in July 2019 with the first General Assembly held in Barcelona after the RICOMET 2019 conference. It currently involves 24 organisations from 13 different countries.

A prospective Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) for Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) in radiological protection was developed by a collective of research institutes and universities. This is the first time such a research agenda has been proposed. Six research lines of interest and concern have been identified:

• Effects of social, psychological and economic aspects on RP behaviour;
• Holistic approaches to the governance of radiological risks;
• Responsible research and innovation in RP;
• Stakeholder engagement and participatory processes in RP research, development, policy and practice;
• Risk communication; and
• RP cultures.

These topics were developed through broad stakeholder consultation, in conjunction with activities carried out in the framework of various projects and initiatives (EU H2020 CONCERT programme, the EU FP7 projects OPERRA, PREPARE and EAGLE, the 2015–2018 RICOMET series of conferences, and the 2014 and 2016 International Symposia on Ethics of Environmental Health); as well as through dialogues with members of the European radiation protection research communities. The six research lines open opportunities to integrate a range of key social and ethical considerations into RP, thereby expanding research opportunities and programmes and fostering collaborative approaches to research and innovation.

SHARE organizes annual conference RICOMET. The conference is a unique opportunity to collect state-of-the-art, present and discuss projects or research results since it is an international, multidisciplinary and stakeholder driven event, devoted to academics, researchers, experts and civil society stakeholders involved in social science and humanities research on ionizing radiation. The conference includes scientific sessions, workshops, round tables, parallel meetings and is attended by participants working in the field of SSH and ionizing radiation.

More information:

Visit the SHARE website : http://www.ssh-share.eu​/